Question from Reader: I read your review of IEW on both The Curriculum Choice and your personal blog. I’m thinking of purchasing IEW for our homeschooling next year and was hoping I could ask you a question on the program.  It’s a pricey program, so I’m more hesitant to jump the gun and buy it without thoroughly researching it. Is it worth the price?

Writing has not always been easy for me. I can clearly remember the days of my growing up years when my teacher would assign the inevitable “What I Did Over Summer Vacation” essay. I would sit with pencil poised over the blank paper but the words wouldn’t come freely. My mind would go blank. My stomach would start to hurt. I would tell myself to just write something on the paper. So it would go…I would put something down and eventually feel like a failure because it was boring and lifeless.

Fast forward to when I started to homeschool my own children. At that time there were very few writing programs for homeschoolers and I tried to put my own plan together. My children would receive an assignment and I would see in their eyes the same look I must have had when I was a young writer with nothing to say. I knew that there must be a better way than the way I had been taught to write. Where was it?

Unfortunately, it wasn’t until years later that I found the answer. I had heard of IEW but had been put off by the price tag. I wasn’t willing to invest the money in a program that I wasn’t convinced was necessary or would work with my boys. That was until I went to a convention and actually heard Andrew Pudewa speak.

IEW is different than other writing programs because it gives your child the tools needed to write along with giving them something to write about. Children at first do not pull the ideas or facts for their writing pieces from thin air. They are given something to write about whether it is a retelling of a story, a mini-research report, or a super essay. They can concentrate on the writing skills. Writing at first is done using models and a framework.

As the child gains confidence, they can begin to put their voice into their writing. This is done with their particular style, vocabulary, and point of view.

So if you see that look in your child’s eyes, look into the Institute for Excellence in Writing’s program. I urge you to look past the price tag and really think about what a gift it is to give your children…the gift of confidence in their writing. You can read my thorough review of the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style program over on The Curriculum Choice.

Do you struggle with teaching writing?